Springfield, IL Office

Bridge Breaking Contest

The Bridge Breaking Contest held during National Engineer’s Week at White Oaks Mall was an opportunity for local high school students to showcase their bridge engineering skills. Coordinated by the Illinois Society of Professional Engineers (ISPE) and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Bridges were created from manila file folders and are required to meet specific dimensional parameters.  CMT’s Derek CochranEvan AckersonGrace Kurcab and Matt Overbey helped coordinate and volunteered for the event.

At the contest each bridge was loaded using a platform that fits within the bridge and an empty bucket hung below. Then, the bucket was loaded with sand until the bridge failed. The amount of sand the bridge was able to hold is converted to points for the overall scoring.  Cash awards are presented for the following:  1st, 2nd, and 3rd for highest points scored, best-constructed bridge, and most-innovative bridge. 

  • First place – Sacred Heart Griffin, “Griffin Bridge Building”
  • Second place – Riverton High School, “TI-84 Plus”
  • Third place – Lanphier High School, “My Bridge”
  • Most Innovative – Lanphier High School, “Rocky Road Co.”
  • Best Constructed – Lanphier High School, “My Bridge”

Rube Goldberg Competition

CMT’s Jim Michael and Chris Groth volunteered as the Engineering Mentors for Dubois Elementary School’s Team for the Rube Goldberg Competition during Engineer’s Week.  This year the team’s machine, The Homework Machine, was to generate a minimum of four distinct and separate sounds using discarded “junk” through at least 10 energy transfer steps.

Held Saturday at Lincoln Land Community College and featuring 11 teams from seven local schools, the Rube Goldberg Competition was coordinated by Sangamon County Engineers in the Classroom.  The Competition encourages teamwork and out-of-the-box problem solving, in a fresh hands-on learning environment and level playing field. 

Participating schools included: Dubois Elementary, Fairview Elementary, Graham Elementary, Our Savior’s Lutheran, Rochester Intermediate, Springfield Christian, and Trinity Lutheran.

MATHCOUNTS

CMT’s Derek Cochran, representative of the Illinois Society of Professional Engineers MATHCOUNTS Planning Committee, also volunteered at the annual Capital Chapter MATHCOUNTS Competition. Matt Overbey from CMT also volunteered by moderating the event. The competition was held Saturday, February 2 at Lincoln Land Community College.

Illinois FIRSTTech Championship

The CMT-sponsored team, Iron Aresenal, took the 3rd place Connect Award at the 2019 Illinois FIRSTTech Championship Tournament at Elgin Community College this weekend. The Connect Award is given to the team that most connects with their local science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) community.

The tournament hosted 44 teams, with up to 15 team members from grades 7-12. Each team is challenged to design, build, program, and operate robots to compete in a head-to-head competition. Guided by adult coaches, like Kyle Blais and Michelle Ryan — and mentors, like Tim Sumner and Lana Sumner from CMT — students develop STEM skills and practice engineering principles. Teams design and build the robots, raise funds, market their team brand, and complete community outreach to earn awards.

Aurora, IL Office

Straw Structure Fortress Contest

Engineer’s Week in Aurora, IL had CMT’s Kris Salvatera volunteering on behalf of the Illinois Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).  Kris helped kids during the annual Straw Structure Fortress contest at Helen Keller Elementary.

Civil Engineering Panel at the Illinois Institute of Technology

CMT’s Kris Salvatera and other board members of The American Society of Civil Engineers – Illinois Section, participated in a civil engineering panel at the Illinois Institute of Technology to talk to students about the different careers in civil engineering. The professionals got into deep conversations including: personal career experiences, professional advice to students, and benefits of joining a professional membership to learn and network from other people in the profession.

St. Louis, MO Office

Activities at The Engineering Center

CMT professionals partnered with The Engineering Center of St. Louis to celebrate Engineer’s Week at a Luncheon on Tuesday. In attendance from CMT were Adrianne Eilers, Jay Rakers, John Keeven, Justin Steinkuehler, Matt Sainz, Heather Gipp, Kevin Fuller, Brian Hutsell and Angie Franklin.

This is just one of the events The Engineering Center had planned for Engineer’s Week. The Center is also coordinated a community service day, discovery & college fair, career fair, and engineering exposition.

Peoria, IL Office

Engineering Day at the Peoria Riverfront Museum

CMT’s Emily Munday, Megan Splittstoesser and Jeremy Wasilewski volunteered at Engineering Day at the Peoria Riverfront Museum Sunday; representing the Peoria Area Chapter of the Illinois Society of Professional Engineers (ISPE). It was a free day full of activities for future engineers, scientists, and kids of all ages. Kids made single paper bridges and tested how many pennies they would hold. They also made marshmallow structures to test on our Earthquake Shake Table. Just one of the activities CMT will participate in during National Engineer’s Week!

Indianapolis, IN Office

Engineers in Indiana Classrooms

The American Council of Engineering Companies of Indiana (ACEC-IN) coordinated getting engineers in classrooms during National Engineer’s Week. CMT’s Melanie Reddick stepped-up for Avondale Meadows Academy in Indianapolis and Jerry Bollinger volunteered for Westfield High School in Westfield. They provided students with presentations outlining the wide variety of opportunities in the field of engineering.

CMT’s Adam Burns, along with Boone County, Indiana Engineer Craig Parks and Lebanon, Indiana Engineer Kevin Krulik volunteered at Lebanon Middle School, representing ACEC Indiana and ASCE. Kevin, Craig, and Adam spoke about the exciting opportunities in the field of engineering and hosted a structure building competition with 7th and 8th graders. Just one of many activities across Indiana during Engineer’s Week.

Columbus, OH Office

ASCE Luncheon Sponsor

For National Engineer’s Week, CMT sponsored the the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Central Ohio Luncheon at the Bridgewater Conference Center. The sponsorship helped to cover the cost of the luncheon which enables select high school and college students interested in engineering to attend the event at no charge. A number of CMT professionals attended.